You've talked about the mental strain of trying to dig out of an 0-4 hole. Can you elaborate?

Strief: It is going to take energy. Every game is so important at this point, and there's almost like a feeling of desperation at the end of games -- that there's no other choice but winning. And that can be exhausting. One of the things that will help us is when we did that in 2007, it was in the age of practicing in full pads twice a week through Week 16. We were coming off a hard training camp. Those things can build up over time, and now we're probably in a better position to physically be able to do it.

So you feel fresher now than you did in 2007, when you lost the first four, won the next four and then petered out?

Strief: Those first two years (under Sean Payton) were pretty brutal. In ‘06 we practiced in full pads through the playoffs, which we needed at that time. We weren't nearly as talented. We essentially had to outwork people. But there's a lot more attention to how guys are feeling now. They've done a good job of kind of feeling the pulse of the team, knowing when to push and when to back off. Sometimes it's just as important to go into a game fresh as it is to go into a game having repped every play in your offense.

How much can you draw on the long win streaks you've had in recent years (13 in 2009, six in 2010, nine in 2011)?

Strief: We've been on rolls before. There's a formula for us winning, and guys have bought into it. It's important for us to win the turnover ratio. It's important for the defense to force field goals and to get turnovers. We have to put drives together and keep them rested. We have to make some big plays to loosen up teams. We have to become more balanced. If you look at the stats, you say it wasn't balanced (against San Diego), but when the offense really clicked in the fourth quarter, it was balanced. Even if it's not an 8-yard run or a 10-yard run, it's a 4-yard run that's keeping teams on their heels.

So are we blaming Zach Strief and Aaron Kromer for the new CBA then? They can only practice so many times during the year now, and even fewer f them can be practices with pads, under the new CBA. But oh, let's go ahead and waste one of those pad practices during the bye week, before a game against the weakest team in the division, we won't possibly need it at the end of the year.